#Harry and Lily

[firendgold]

don't mind me, just imagining Albus going to put flowers at Kendra's grave, and meeting Harry who is standing in front of an empty plot of land with lilies gripped tight in one hand

[justhinako]

I'll die on the hill that Harry James Potter canonically looks a lot like Lily Evans-Potter, and the only reason they see James is because he's 1 a boy, 2 that hair, 3 height (and he's not even as tall as james was). I WILL BURN ON THIS HILL DO YOU HEAR ME PEOPLE!!!!

okay there's the possibility that harry james potter may have looked like James but as he grew up its all Lily.

[freedomfireflies]

How would the Harry’s react to each other their girls having nightmares?

OOOOOO oh gosh, we're just gonna make me sob today huh???

Teach Me Harry: oh this man kisses you awake, no doubt. Kisses to your cheek, arm, shoulder, neck. Whispers off, "Hey, hey. Bee, you're all right. I'm here, okay? Deep breath." and then he suggests you have a snack or watch something funny to distract you!!

Mine Harry: is about the same but he almost takes the nightmares personally ALSFJDSF like he's almost offended he wasn't able to protect you from them, so he's more sullen with his comforting. And promises you that whatever might have scared you, he will always protect you from

OftM Harry: He whispers your name over and over until you wake, squeezing your hip encouragingly and telling you you're all right. To just take a deep breath, it was just a dream!

iFall Harry: oooooooo I think he kind of shakes you awake and pulls you into his arms and speaks very softly!! Asks if you want to talk about it, maybe help figure out what's bothering you!! Why you had the dream!! And then cuddles you back to sleep, your head on his chest!

404 Harry: He definitely wakes you up a little less cute and a little more, "Why are you fucking kicking and thrashing, can you calm the fuck down?" and when you wake, you tell him, and he's all, "Oh...sounds awful. Would make a good slasher movie though," and you just roll your eyes but you're laughing alsjfsdf

Angel Harry: well, he's your guardian angel, and I believe he spends all night fighting off bad dreams for you 😗

[norvinasallow]

✨Present Jily's Life✨

📷 Lily's picture playing with Harry. He has a little office to train to be a great Minister Of Magic.

She thinks is a game. He doesn't 📷

[stereotypicalswiftie]

After taking Sirius in from his abusive family, and seeing just how much that abuse traumatized him, I think James Potter would murder petunia evans for what she did to his son.

And that’s not to say that Lily would not, she quite literally died for her son.

Just imagine being a James potter, who’s parents always surrounded him with love, in fact, they had so much love to give that they took in your best friend and treated him as their own.

Now imagine dating the love of your life, and imagining a future together, a future where you got to be those parents for your son’s friends, especially the ones who needed it. And now.

Imagine your life getting ripped away as you have to watch your son endure what your best friend did.

He would go fucking Feral

[firendgold]

Harry and Lily's motivations and thought patterns can be said to be similar, though, even with how cruelly they were separated.

Harry did not have the chance to be raised by Lily, true. Personality is not solely shaped by genetics: also true. But Harry still shares Lily's stubbornness, cutting tongue, and her strong sense of justice. He shares her belief in the value of sacrifice, even when that sacrifice is personal, final, and has no guarantee of leading to the most ideal outcome. Like both Lily and James, like Sirius and Remus, Harry has no fear of sacrificing himself for friends and family—no fear of dying for what he believes in. He believes in doing things for the benefit of the many, even at his own expense.

This isn't because he's been "groomed" to be that way. It is an innate part of his character from the moment we first meet him in chapter 2 of book 1. It is a part of his character that is clear to characters like Albus, Sirius, Remus, and Severus without Harry ever having to express it in words. It's not an aspect of his character many people like that much, much less accept, but it is a distinct tie between Lily's character and Harry's.

The wizarding world has only a vague idea of who Harry is, and Harry is only infrequently bothered by their opinions of him. His strongest rejection of any role they might put him in is during year 5, when the general public's denial of Voldemort's return is literally threatening his life. But the Ministry and the general public don't have the slightest idea of who Harry is and what he's motivated by—ironically, very similar to many members of Harry's own fandom.

As for Lily's home life, we know that her parents adored her and she had a strong friendship with Severus. But we also know that all was not rosy (no pun intended) in her early life before she grew up and joined the fight against Voldemort. She and Petunia had a rocky relationship which only worsened the more Lily leaned into her identity as a witch. Her first best friend splintered off at some early point during their school years, splitting his time between her and a group of people who thought she was sub-human and a thief of magic. Of the other close friends she may have had, none seem to have outlived her, and she spent at least some of her last days on earth getting news of their deaths.

Lily does not get the screen time she deserves, and much of her behavior is left only to our speculation as fans. But Lily's words and choices in light of the few things we do know about her speak to a deep strength of character, an inflexible sense of right and wrong. Lily Potter is an altruistic woman who is able to empathize with others even without suffering a quarter of the harm that her son comes to experience once she is gone.

Harry was most certainly abused: neglected, treated as less than his cousin, left alone to handle problems no child should have to handle. But I'd argue that these things did not take away his sense of identity, or prevent him from having one; and that it's a common fanon misconception that Harry is either a beaten-down butterfly or a blank-slate everyman.

One of the thing many fans miss about Harry (despite how much his mistreatment is discussed) is that even with the way the Dursleys treat him, Harry does not bend or break before them. A different child might have been submissive, shy, obedient. They might have taken on some of the same ugly beliefs as their 'caretakers'. At eleven years old, Harry is and does none of those things. He is defiant. He is snarky. He is strong-willed, and extremely opinionated, and loyal—though he doesn't fall in line behind the first person with power or wealth or even a winning smile. As he matures throughout the series, these core traits mature with him.

The Harry who sends his friends away for help and decides to face Voldemort at eleven, knowing he will likely die, is the same Harry who goes in secret to face Voldemort at seventeen, knowing he will most certainly die. And he shares this choice, and the belief system it's based on, with the woman who threw herself in front of her killer, her son's would-be killer, and said please not Harry. Have mercy.

Harry Potter wasn't raised to be a soldier or a self-sacrificial lamb. Harry experienced criminal neglect in his early years and realized that no one was going to swoop in and save him when he needed help. He took that to mean that if he wanted something done, if he wanted to help others, he needed to do it himself. By the time he met with adults who did want to help him, and could have helped him, their hands were tied by murderous half-dead men and bureaucratic conservatist systems and discrimination and their own misconceptions of him and a million other things—and that cemented the part of Harry's personality that insisted he must handle things by himself.

And that, acting where others don't or won't, is a choice he makes on his own throughout the series. Harry has plenty of chances to run away from his issues, and a host of people who might have been glad to let him do it. But he doesn't, because he never wants to be a bystander. He never wants to be the type of person who turns his back on the suffering of others—like Wormtail, like the Death Eaters, like the Ministry of Magic. It is a trait he shares with his mother, who could have just as easily packed up and moved clear across the world when Voldemort started terrorizing Britain—but didn't.

Whether they are loved or hated by others, villainized or lionized, both Harry and Lily choose to make personal sacrifices to fight for what's right.

All this to say—I agree with the OP. Harry Potter is not James Potter and he is not Lily Evans Potter either. But I also believe Harry does have some of his parents' less obvious traits, traits which shine through in some of his most perilous moments and give him the strength to overcome his opponents. Still, Harry should NOT be written or interpreted as a carbon copy of either of his parents, because it was Harry James Potter alone who had the personality, the strength, the wisdom, and the selflessness necessary to destroy Voldemort.

Harry Potter is an extremely complex character who deserves actual deep analysis of his choices and character that aren't tied to what his parents said or did or how fans feel about his sacrificial tendencies.

harry potter is NOT james potter.

I love parallels. I love people reminding others of those they've lost along the way.

But Harry Potter is not James . And that is so vital to his entire character.

When people see Harry, they see James. They see a James who sees the world through Lily's eyes. When they see Harry, they don't see Harry.

And that is so vital to his entire being. It's vital to how people see Harry. The people that didn't know James, see the Boy-Who-Lived.

The people who did, who were close to Harry, to James, to Lily. They see James and Lily Potter. They see the people who died, people they were close to, people they miss every day but will never see again.

Remus, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall.

At first, they see James and Lily. And then when they meet him - apart from Snape- they quickly realise he is anything but.

Harry is not arrogant, rich, spoilt. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't play pranks, he isn't a chaser, he doesn't pick fights.

Harry isn't exceptionally bright at everything he does, he isn't inconceivably forgiving for those who don't deserve it.

He is not Lily and James.

When peole write Harry as a golden retriever, as effortlessly good at everything, they aren't writing about Harry.

Harry who grew up not wanted. Harry who grew up believing something was wrong with him. Harry who was forced into the wizarding world with no knowledge. Harry who is as stubborn as a mule,. Harry who is loyal to a fault, who forgives those he loves, Harry who isn't his parents.

He has traits of them, their anger, their ability to love, and much much more.

BUT Harry Potter isn't them. He isn't the 'best of them both' he isn't James or Lily or Sirius or Regulus.

Harry Potter is Harry. Just Harry.

And that is why he doesn't get along ith Snape. That's why McGonagall believes Harry dragged Neville out for a joke in first year.

When people see Harry, they don't see Harry. And by writing Harry as somebody else, or as 'so-and-so's child' you're not doing the character justice.

'I want a complex character with complex relationships'

'i want an angry character'

'i want to read a book that makes me think'

you couldn't even handle Harry Potter.

[hmyrine]

what a cute couple i bet they shop at forever 21

[industrations]

Mama🤲

[toorumlk]

oh to get wine drunk with your childhood best friend

[lupinflowrs]

i also have some baby harry content ft. padfoot and moony 🫶 i love him he's so silly

[obsessedpages]

this is the most beautiful piece of art i've seen in a long time oh my god

ac: likeafunerall

[firendgold]

It just kills me sometimes how much stuff Harry and Albus have in common...  and not just the easy stuff. Like yeah, they both wear glasses, they both have bird companions, they were both in Gryffindor... but there’s even more than that! 

Both Albus and Harry are half-bloods, and specifically half-bloods whose father is pureblood (Percival, James) and mother is Muggle-born (Kendra, Lily). Both Lily and Kendra were either directly or indirectly killed by their own children. Both men first showed romantic interest in foreigners (Gellert, Cho). Both of them have best friends that are underrated severely either by the narrative/canon or by the fandom (Elphias and Ron). And both of them ended up owning a Deathly Hallow for many years.

Personally I love exploring their possible connection/bonding through talking about their mothers, who had such a big influence on both their lives and in such different ways, but we’re not short on material. ^^

[we-were-starss]

james: i’m seeing someone

lily: is it serious?

james: no, it’s his brother

[freedomfireflies]

what are each of the Harry's love languages?? ♥️

OOOOO

Teach Me Harry: has to be physical touch right??? Which we love for him

Mine Harry: Quality time maybe because he so rarely gets to just be with her!!

OftM Harry: …..gifts, 1000000% TOO EASY

iFall Harry: maybe words of affirmation?? I feel like (since he’s based on real Harry) he wants to encourage her, and also wants to make sure HE’s doing the right thing, too! And not overthinking!! (but we also know he has a praise kink hehe) (and I can also see acts of service)

404 Harry: I think acts of service only because he so rarely wants to do something for someone else HAHAHA so if he does them for her, he means it! (But also physical touch, too maybe??)

Angel Harry: ooooooooooooooooooooooooo this one is tough hm….maybe physical touch? Since it’s so rare for angels? And he indulges in her every chance he gets!! I mean that man begged to kiss her after knowing her for like 20 minutes HAHAH but also since he’s a guardian angel, I can see him magically having them all AKSKAS

[maluceh]

the potters

[daiziesssart]

just realized i never posted these harry doodles from twitter!! little harry and his froggy raincoat <3